TreeClan
by Yellowfur
Summary: This is my first fanfic, about my own clan. Don't be too mean, now. Rated T for some violence. THE SEQUEL IS OUT! Now get! Review or the kits will cry.
1. Chapter 1: TreeClan

Leader- Thinstar- thin-legged pale tabby she-cat

Deputy- Largefoot- big, dark-colored tom

Medicine cat- Crazyeyes- dark brown tom with light gray eyes Apprentice- Frecklepaw

Warriors- Hawkfur- black-gray fur, Apprentice-Stripedpaw

Sandyfur- handsome blond tom

Tawnythorn-tan-brown tom

Redpelt- orange she-cat

Sootstep- long-furred black tom with brown markings

Cloudynight- black she-cat with white markings, apprentice- Yellowpaw

Shorttail- short-legged brown tabby tom, apprentice- Spikepaw

Goldenlash- pretty golden colored she-cat

Rainclaw- black and tan tabby tom

Robinchest- brown she-cat with reddish underbelly

Galewind- dusky brown she-cat

Mistyfur- musty gray she-cat, apprentice-Puddlepaw

Darkbranch- Jet black tom, apprentice-Midnightpaw

Queens- Sunnywing- pretty golden-brown tabby she-cat

Snowpelt- white she-cat

Spottedback- tortoiseshell she-cat

Apprentices- Stripedpaw- brown tabby she-cat

Puddlepaw- brown she-cat with gray paws

Frecklepaw- brown tom with orange flecks

Spikepaw- yellow tom, with brown eyes

Yellowpaw- yellow she-cat with dark blue eyes

Midnightpaw- Blue-black she-cat

Elders- Graystorm- gray tom

Cedarpoppy- reddish-brown tabby she-cat

Owlwing- gray-white she-cat

Brightflower- tortoiseshell she-cat

Tallheart- tall pale tabby tom

Bobtail- Black and brown spotted tom with a tail lost in battles

**Chapter 1: TreeClan**

A young female tabby walked into her home camp, with a mouthful of prey. She dropped it on a rock in the middle of a big clearing. She could hear comfortable sounds of business and scurrying cat paws. The medicine cat tried to get his apprentice to listen, his mind wandering to another place. Two toms argued about who should go on the afternoon patrol, while a pretty golden-colored she-cat waited impatiently for them, her tail flicking. All this was nothing new to Stripedpaw. She liked the bustling of a hot greenleaf day, when nothing serious was happening, or anything boring.

Stripedpaw!" a voice called out. It was her mentor Hawkfur, a big-hearted, black-gray warrior tom. "Not to nag, but you should get on with cleaning out the elders' old moss, eh?" Stripedpaw sighed, this being her least favorite job.

"Wouldn't you rather me go on hunting patrol?" she asked hopefully. Before he could respond, another young she-cat's voice rang out.

"Yes, we need another couple of cats to go." Hawkfur tried to explain how she just went hunting, but the she-cat and her mentor were persistent. The yellow she-cat, Yellowpaw, looked into Hawkfur's eyes and pleaded with him. This was mostly for Stripedpaw's sake. They had identical dark blue eyes, because they were father and daughter. Yellowpaw's mentor was a black she-cat with white markings, and her name was Cloudynight. Cloudynight was somewhat small, a little shorter and skinnier than the rest, similar the leader of the clan. Another thing the leader and this warrior had in common was the fact that what they didn't have in strength and size they made up for in wits and agility.

After a just a little more reasoning, Stripedpaw was on her way to hunt with Yellowpaw, Cloudynight, and a tom named Sandyfur. Stripedpaw was best friends with Yellowpaw and enjoyed hunting and doing patrols with her. Yellowpaw was a decent hunter and a splendid fighter. She-cats in Stripedpaw's clan were often just as strong as toms.

Stripedpaw thanked StarClan she didn't have to deal with crabby elders. StarClan was the place in the stars where all the cats went after they have passed away. There, they are free to hunt upon the stars and take care of the clans on earth, making sure they carry out the guidelines set before them.

In the distance, Stripedpaw could see a patrol. In it were a fellow apprentice named Spikepaw, his mentor Shorttail, an aloof tom named Tawny-thorn, and a beautiful she-cat named Goldenlash. Stripedpaw was secretly rather fond of Spikepaw, Yellowpaw's brother, and wished they were more than just friends. Spikepaw and Yellowpaw looked very much alike, having identical unusually bright yellow fur. However, Yellowpaw had dark blue eyes and Spikepaw's were deep brown. Plus, the fur on Spikepaw's head stuck up strangely, like spikes. The patrol went by, mewing their hellos to each other. Stripedpaw noticed that Sandyfur and Tawnythorn didn't. "_They always seem to fighting about something", _thought Stripedpaw. When Spikepaw walked by, she nudged her fresh-kill out so he could see it. Unfortunately, he didn't, and mewed a normal, friendly greeting.

Not letting this affect her hunting, Stripedpaw began tracking the scent of a vole. She crept up on it, not letting too much weight fall on her paws. She was about to before a glimpse of dark yellow-gold fur jumped on it and killed it in an instant.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "That was _my _catch." The yellow-gold tom, Sandyfur snapped, "You were downwind anyway. He was going to smell you in a second. _I _could." She always had a problem with this cat. Yellowpaw did, too. She was about to hiss a response, but Cloudynight stepped in. "Sandyfur, don't interfere with others' hunting. Stripedpaw, don't hunt downwind." Stripedpaw walked away, satisfied that Sandyfur was righted. She would go see what Yellowpaw was up to. Maybe she knew someplace to hunt away from annoying, arrogant toms.

Yellowpaw concentrated on scents. She lifted her mouth to bring in more scents clearer. She was up in the trees, her mentor watched closely from below. Hunting in trees was something only TreeClan did, giving it its name. No other clan did this, though some tried. Greedy FlowerClan did, they would try anything to get more food, and territory for that matter. They failed, unable to run after prey in the little space trees offered. TreeClan was used to this, and knew how to carefully move from branch to branch, using tails to quietly shift their weight. This also helped in battles, TreeClan warriors being able to jump from trees and keep their balance longer and easier in trees, making battles with foolish cats that chased them up the trees almost effortless to win.

This tree seemed bare to Yellowpaw. She swiftly climbed back down.

Cloudynight was waiting for her below. "You had to go up a tree to scent the animals? Work on that, you should be able to tell from here if there is prey in the tree or not," Cloudynight said. "It's time to go back to camp. I told Stripedpaw and Sandyfur to go back already."

They ran back together, keeping a quick but relaxed pace.

When they got back to camp, Yellowpaw grabbed a squirrel and strode over to two other apprentices, Frecklepaw and Spikepaw. Spikepaw was her brother and Frecklepaw was the medicine cat's apprentice.

"Where's Stripedpaw?" queried Spikepaw. Yellowpaw wondered for a second why Spikepaw wanted to know where Stripedpaw was. She shook it off though, and told him that she was at the medicine cat's den, getting treated for a thorn in her paw. Frecklepaw finished his pigeon and sat up. "I'll help Crazyeyes. He doesn't know where I put the poultice I made this morning. It helps for thorns." Normally Frecklepaw didn't say much, and rarely said things to cats that weren't close friends, his mentor, or family. He was quiet even to them, though.

Yellowpaw could hear something in the background. They were all gathering to the den where the queens lived. Like some dens, it was a huge, hollowed out tree. Other dens were large groups of thin trees and shrubs with a large empty space in the middle.

People were gathering to see a queen have kits. Shorttail was in front, because he was fathering the kits. Shorttail was a brown tom, and Spikepaw's mentor.

In the den, Spottedback was nuzzling three kits, one dusty brown, one brown tabby, and one tortoiseshell. Cats gathered around saying things like "Beautiful" and "They're so healthy looking". More warriors for the healthy, bustling place that was TreeClan.


	2. Chapter 2: A Bit Strange

**Hi readers! I'm glad that anyone reading this chapter is paying attention to my story. I won't be updating as fast as this (a chapter every day) all the time, it's just that I had some stuff pre-written. I know that my story seems to be taking a while to pick up, but bear with me please. Thank you, whoever may be reading this.**

Chapter 2: A Bit Strange…

Frecklepaw woke with a start. He had a nightmare of being chased by badgers. But he remembered that his older sister Galewind said she had the same dream at times. He knew he wouldn't be able to just fall back asleep, so he walked out of the apprentice den. Small rays of light breaking over the cloudy horizon told him dawn was coming and it would make no sense to go back to sleep now. Making sure there were no badgers behind him, he settled down in front of the den. He noticed Owlwing, a she-cat elder coming out too. Her light gray fur looked darker in the early morning.

When dawn came, more cats appeared. Sunnywing, Yellowpaw and Spikepaw's mother, came out and the warrior Tawnythorn soon did the same.

Tawnythorn settled across from Frecklepaw. Sandyfur soon followed.

"You and your nightmares," Sandyfur hissed to Tawnythorn. "Your yowling kept me up all night, no doubt other warriors too." Tawnythorn hissed at him and stood up to face him. Tawnythorn's legs were longer, and he was taller.

"You're always starting fights! Yesterday something about a patrol I was already going on, now about nightmares no other cat heard? That was Rainclaw, anyway!"

"Why don't you both shut your mouths!" an apprentice named Puddlepaw said. "At this rate, your arguing will wake the clan, not a silly nightmare!" Sandyfur and Tawnythorn fought so much for often-silly reasons, that even the apprentices had begun correcting them.

Puddlepaw was Frecklepaw's sister. She was brown, like him, and had strange silver-gray paws. She was bouncy and confident, and always spoke her mind. This was different from her brother, who was very introverted.

Thinstar, the leader came out of her den. She was Puddlepaw and Frecklepaw's mother. By this time, dawn had broken and more cats were leaving their den.

Cloudynight, a dark tom named Sootstep, and Puddlepaw's mentor Mistyfur set out on a morning patrol. The sun wasn't shining. When it was fully raised, rain clouds came to cover it.

Thinstar gathered up Puddlepaw and Yellowpaw. She took them over to Tawnythorn, who was sitting playing with leaves on the ground.

"Tawnythorn, find another warrior and take these apprentices out hunting," Thinstar ordered.

Tawnythorn sighed and got up. "Come along then, let's find someone else to take." Tawnythorn looked around camp. Galewind went out on a mission to collect herbs for the medicine cat, and took Redfur with her. Rainclaw and Crazyeyes were still sleeping and Shorttail was talking with the deputy, Largefoot.

"Hey, there's Sandyfur! Didn't you notice him?" Puddlepaw asked. Tawnythorn did see him, but chose to ignore the fact that he seemed able to go on a hunting patrol. He really didn't feel like doing anything with him. Puddlepaw started walking over to him but Tawnythorn stopped her.

"Don't take him with us! He bothers me so much!" he growled. But Puddlepaw was insistent.

"He isn't doing anything, though!"

Thinstar heard them from across the clearing to see what was going on. "Oh, what a good idea! I can't think of anything else for him to do."

She called him over. He came across willingly but slowed when he saw Tawnythorn.

"Let's get a move on, then," he growled. Puddlepaw looked Yellowpaw and they exchanged a face, both thinking, "_toms."_

Out of the camp, the weather was nice and cool. The weather in TreeClan territory was usually a little colder than it was really was, due to the trees acting as a sort of canopy from some of the sun's warming rays.

Yellowpaw immediately went after a mouse scent. TreeClan's hunting on the ground was adequate, but the cats rarely tried to, as their skills lied in the trees. Stripedpaw wondered off, looking for birds or squirrels in trees. A sickly sweet scent filled her nostrils, and she immediately scented FlowerClan cats' stench. Every clan's scent had something to do with their surroundings. RockClan's was faintly dusty and old smelling, for their camp was on an old, barren, dry rock. RiverClan smelled like a fresh rain due to being right next to the main river of the forest. There were three streams at the northern part of the forest between TreeClan and FlowerClan, which eventually formed one river going into RiverClan's territory. TreeClan smelled slightly of the pine surrounding their territory. The scent of FlowerClan that Stripedpaw had discovered was nauseatingly sweet, from the colorful flowers surrounding their camp.

Stripedpaw decided she had better things to do than track it, and she'd tell her mentor about it later. She easily maneuvered her body up a tree silently, as not to alert the squirrel up there of her presence. Quietly, she crept…

Frecklepaw stared out of a hole in the medicine cat's den, studying the movement of a robin, watching it land on a small branch and soon fly away. Bored, he asked his mentor if he could take a walk. He agreed to it as long as Frecklepaw was back soon. Frecklepaw strolled out of the campsite and into the forest. He loved walks in his forest; the clean air helped him clear his mind and sort his thoughts. All of the sudden he stopped short and a vision of cats clawing each other and injuring themselves badly rushed through his mind. _Who are those cats? _He thought frantically. _They look familiar…_ he was shook from his violent thoughts when a cat came through the bushes. The cat was a she-cat apprentice named Midnightpaw.

"Hello, Midnightpaw. You gave me a bit of a scare, just bursting through the…" he was cut off, for Midnightpaw seemed to have ignored him and stumbled past him. He was perplexed, as he usually was by her. She was a strangely secretive cat. She had no siblings, nor parents. She was found as a newborn kit alone in the forest, and reeked of kittypet. The leader said she was probably just dropped off by a twoleg who did not want to have a new kitten in his household. The TreeClan cats took her in as their own. Midnightpaw was similar to Cloudynight in the way that they were born kittypets but still had the abilities to fight and hunt in trees just as other TreeClan-born cats could. The abilities of TreeClan made it hard for other clan cats, kittypets, and loners to join the clan. It wasn't that TreeClan weren't generous about space; it was just that fitting in was hard.

Midnightpaw had strange abilities and habits, some almost powers. Sometimes cats did as she suggested or ordered, even though she was an apprentice. She kept to herself a lot, almost never talking with other cats besides her mentor Darkbranch. She traveled alone, often without the consent of her mentor. Once she complained about a nightmare. When a cat offered to talk to her about it, Midnightpaw shrank back, folded her ears back, and said she would not.

Frecklepaw decided he wasn't in the mood for a walk and went back to camp. He'd back to his herb poultice that he never finished mixing. But on the way back, Frecklepaw kept wondering what that strange vision was…


	3. Chapter 3: Random Thoughts

**Disclaimer: Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter.**

**Hi! New chapter! Yay. Right now, I'm still using all the chapters I have pre-written. I would be submitting more than one a day, but I don't want to end up jammed when the pre-written chapters are gone. Plus, I'm working on different fanfics for stuff in other categories than Warriors. Thank you for readingand reviewing!**

Chapter 3: Random Thoughts

Stripedpaw awoke the next morning after long after sunrise. After stretching and yawning briefly, she took a look around camp to see what everyone was up to. A majority of the cats were out in the forest already. They were probably hunting, on a patrol, or out training with their mentors.

"What should I do?" Stripedpaw asked Largefoot, the tall, wide deputy.

"Believe it or not, all the jobs I can think of are taken. If you want a job, you could always see if the elders need your help with anything," Largefoot replied.

Stripedpaw sighed but decided not to push it. If she did he could give her an even worse job. It wasn't that the elders were unfriendly; it was just that leaf-bare always made Bobtail cranky, and Graystorm's upper leg was sore, so he would be snappy as well.

But Luckily for Stripedpaw, her mentor Hawkfur came through the camp entrance, followed by the rest of the morning patrol. _I'm saved!_ Stripedpaw thought. Hawkfur looked furious though, and whispered something to Largefoot. Yellowpaw was in the patrol and walked over to Stripedpaw when she caught sight of her.

"What in the name of StarClan is going on? You're father looks like he's going to burst!" Stripedpaw asked Yellowpaw.

"Yeah, he's mad all right," she agreed. "We scented some FlowerClan at our side of the big rocks, right near the river." She seemed confused. "I don't know why he's so angry, though. It is our territory, but it's really close to their side."

"Yes, but your father can get that way," Stripedpaw mewed. "Oh by the way, have you seen Spikepaw? I haven't seen him at all today."

"You're still so fond of him? You could do so much better as far as toms go; you're smarter than him. But if you want to know, he's on a hunting trip with Darkbranch, Midnightpaw, Shorttail, and Redpelt. Knowing him, he's probably messing it up…" Yellowpaw playfully flicked her tail in the direction the hunting patrol went on and strutted over to Puddlepaw to tell her what happened.

Stripedpaw didn't want to go looking for him in the forest. It was too much trouble for her, and besides, she didn't feel like hunting with Midnightpaw. _"She's kind of creepy", _thought Stripedpaw as she began to walk towards her mentor.


	4. Chapter 4: Rejoicing and Resentment

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors.**

**Hello! Another new chapter for any readers. You may have noticed that so far in this tory, I've been adding a new chapter almost every day. There might be a delay tomorrow, I have a painful orthodontic appointment to go to to get braces fitted or something. If I may make a request, please, if you're reading this and haven't already reviewed, reviewing my story or a certain chapter would be a very nice thing to do. I want to see your opinions, suggestions, or questions (just try not be too mean now). Without further ado, I present Ch.4 of the TreeClan story! Ta-daa! -overly dramatic music sounds-**

Chapter 4: Rejoicing and Resentment

"Oh, how I hate trying to run in snow!" exclaimed Spikepaw, who was trying to sprint around in shoulder-deep snow. Yellowpaw trudged by him in the thick, white snow and batted his ear.

"Stop your complaining. You're worse than a kit sometimes!" Yellowpaw playfully teased.

"Well, at least I'm having my ceremony for becoming a warrior at the next half-moon."

"Idiot, the last half-moon was last night. You'll be waiting forever!"

"That's sooner than yours! Oh, remind me, when is it again…?"

"Shut up!" Stripedpaw said as she stepped out of the apprentice den halfheartedly. "I'm still tired."

Hawkfur was already outside, gathering up a morning patrol. "I'll take my apprentice, Goldenlash, Cloudynight, and Stripedpaw. As far as hunting patrols go, I'll let my sister decide that one."

Hawkfur's sister, who was also the clan leader Thinstar, stepped out of her den.

"I need to talk to Puddlepaw and Stripedpaw", said Thinstar.

Stripedpaw strolled over to the leader's den with her head held high, praying in her head to StarClan that she hadn't done anything wrong or stupid recently. She looked confident because she didn't want anyone to think she was nervous.

"Nervous?" Sandyfur mewed quietly as Stripedpaw walked by.

"Not in the least," Stripedpaw lied. "Why should I be?"

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Stripedpaw was having a fun time hunting with herHawkfur, Yellowpaw, and Yellowpaw's mentor. She was ecstatic from the news she received that morning in the leader's den.

"What are you so happy about?" Yellowpaw asked, with an amused look on her face at Stripedpaw's prancing and skipping.

"Puddlepaw and I will become warriors the quarter moon after Spikepaw's warrior ceremony!" answered Stripedpaw without hesitation.

"Oh…oh really? You should be really happy." Yellowpaw replied.

"I am! I am!" Stripedpaw said joyfully. But she wasn't as happy as she was before. She couldn't a forlorn look on Yellowpaw's face.

"When's yours?" asked Stripedpaw.

"No date is set".

"…oh."


	5. Chapter 5: Regret

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Too bad...**

**I know I said there would be a delay today, but it turns out my appointment is actually tomorrow, not today! So, that means this chapter is for you. And for those who haven't reviewed my story yet: have an opinion? Question? Suggestion? Then reviewing is the thing for you! (game show music) Now read. Bye.**

Chapter 5: Regret

Hawkfur and Stripedpaw were finishing off their hunt and sunset. Stripedpaw was quiet as she was asking her mind questions about Yellowpaw's not yet existing warrior ceremony. Stripedpaw thought of all the apprentices Yellowpaw was by far the best fighter and a good hunter, if a little careless at times with scents.

"Hawkfur, why doesn't Yellowpaw have a warrior ceremony date set yet? At this rate she'll be the last of the apprentices to become a warrior," Stripedpaw asked her mentor. "I mean, I know she's a stronger fighter than me."

Hawkfur sighed before responding. "She is an exceptional fighter. But she does have one big problem, and that's being merciful."

"Wait, I don't get it. What do you mean?"

"I mean that she doesn't know how to let people go. You know how she argues and bickers with Sandyfur and Spikepaw? Well, it's just like that, but with real fighting. She won't give anyone any mercy, won't let them go."

"Could you explain more?" Stripedpaw requested."You see, I'm afraid she won't cut any slack or give mercy to the point where it's a serious danger to the cats around her. I'm afraid that one day, when she's older and even stronger, she might really hurt someone when she doesn't mean to. What if a couple of apprentices tick her off on a bad day? She might hurt them and…"

"She _wouldn't_ do that!" Stripedpaw could hear herself getting angry. "Are you even hearing yourself! She's your daughter, and my best friend! You should know as much as I do that she would never do that!"

"I know she wouldn't mean to, Stripedpaw, but we can't let her lose control, which she might if she gets too cocky from becoming a warrior before she's ready," Hawkfur replied calmly.

"No, she is ready!"

"The fact is Stripedpaw, she isn't, and she needs to…"

"No, wait. Please hear me out, Hawkfur… I know Yellowpaw is really powerful, but she can control it. She's strong, not stupid."

"You do have a point, Stripedpaw. But I just can't chance it. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," Stripedpaw sighed as she picked up her bundle of fresh-kill.


	6. Chapter 6: Special

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Oh well.**

**This chapter is short, just introducing a new kit and talking about Stripedpaw's special abilities. I know this chapter might seem a little boring, I'll probably add a new chapter tomorrow. If you are reading and haven't reviewed yet, a review would be much appreciated. I would even appreciate constructive criticism.**

Chapter 6: Special

Stripedpaw was running toward the camp. It was a rainy, gloomy afternoon and there was big news. Stripedpaw had to cut short her rainy stroll to investigate. She met up with Yellowpaw on the way back.

"I heard the situation's about a kit," Yellowpaw said.

"Yeah, about that blind kit, I think. But everyone knows Stonekit is blind. It isn't news anymore." Stripedpaw replied. Yellowpaw didn't respond.

By the time they got to the camp, everyone had gathered around the center of the TreeClan at the sacred tree. At the bottom was a small kit, Stonekit, the small, light and dark brown brindle colored tom kit. The most significant part about his looks was his milky white, clouded over, sightless little eyes.

Spottedback was at the bottom of the tree with Stonekit. "Wait until you see this!" she exclaimed loudly. "Stonekit dear, don't be shy. Show them your abilities!"

Stonekit slowly looked south into the forest. "In there, right outside that big fern and berry bush, there's a rabbit. Someone should hunt him. He's big; he could be worth a meal for two cats."

Immediately Yellowpaw, not one for shyness, crept toward the spot in between the fern and bush. She leapt into the spot, and in an instant, was back with her mouth full, holding an unusually fat brown rabbit.

"Oh great StarClan, he was right. Oh…" gasped Brightflower, a she-cat elder. There were murmurs from all the cats.

"Hey now, we don't want to scare the little one," said Tallheart, a sweet, wise, long-limbed elder tom. "Stonekit, you have quite a special talent there. When did you realize that you had this ability?" he queried softly.

"I don't know, I guess I always had it, I just never realized it was s great," the small kit answered. "I guess since I can remember smelling stuff when I was really small, I could do that. I can smell what animal is near, where they are, even their size. If they're really close, I can tell their gender. And I know when a cat from a different clan is coming when they're really far away."

The clan was a mass of murmurs and whispers. Clearly they had never seen a cat with these talents.

"Hey," whispered Yellowpaw to Stripedpaw. "Even if he's blind, he still has some awesome skills! He would make a great warrior, don't you think?"

"Definitely," Stripedpaw replied. She was thinking to herself about the kit when Yellowpaw broke in her thoughts again.

"You think you'll mentor Stonekit? When he becomes an apprentice, you'll be a warrior by at least three moons. He's only three moons old himself, and you'll be turning warrior in a few days. Don't forget that he has to be six moons old before becoming an apprentice. Spikepaw just had silent vigil last night and this morning. You and Puddlepaw are up next, in just a few days!"

Stripedpaw was staring at Yellowpaw in amazement. "Wait, you're celebrating the fact that I'm a warrior, um, I mean becominga warrior soon, and you're date isn't even set?"

"Yeah sure, my time will come. You'll see."

"Good. Now…you still seem to think I'll get Stonekit. He'll probably end up with a more experienced cat, or even another new coming warrior. So why _me_?"

Yellowpaw sighed before answering. "I say that because you are a great warrior in general. You're probably the best hunter I know, and you're still a great fighter. Now me, I can't even tell if there's prey in a tree before going up. You can tell from the next tree over!" Yellowpaw had a pause before saying anything else and leaned forward. She quietly said, "Besides, I have some gossip. The other day I was in the elders' den, cleaning out moss, when I heard them talking about the apprentices."

Stripedpaw gasped. "What did they say? What did they say? Tell me, tell me, please tell me!" she whined, forgetting that this is not the thing to be encouraged.

"Okay. Tallheart said he thought we were all good, but you know how polite he is, he would never say one of us was a bad fighter or anything. Cedarpoppy agreed. Bobtail said he thought Spikepaw wasn't ready because he had too much attitude and Midnightpaw might never be if she doesn't learn how to speak up. But he's just being grumpy, his limbs hurt. Then they started to talk about who they thought was best when they thought I left."

"Wait, you eavesdropped on the elders?" Stripedpaw just realized the problem in what they were talking about.

"Well…yeah, but that's beside the point. I heard Owlwing say you were the best hunter. Brightflower thought you were the quickest fighter, and Bobtail practically screeched that you were both! Brightflower agreed with Bob- tail. Cedarpoppy started talking about how we each were special, but I heard her say you were the really good right before I left."

Stripedpaw was about to comment, but Yellowpaw cut her off again.

"That's not all. I heard other cats, too, not even on purpose. I heard my father telling my mother, Rainclaw, Redpelt, and Sootstep that he thought you had a lot of promise. Redpelt was about to say something about your cleverness when I had to leave the den. And I saw Thinstar checking out your fresh-kill haul the other day!'

"It wasn't a 'haul' Yellowpaw…"

"Yes it was so! You had at least double what Spikepaw had. And the leader checked you out! Now that's an honor!"

Stripedpaw was speechless. She knew her mentor was proud, but the elders and even the leader…she left Yellowpaw to go finish her stroll. And for the first time in moons, she felt confident.

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**Now go work those reviewing hands, people. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7: Unexpected

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Hmmm...**

**So, this is Chapter 7. Part of this is sort of indicating towards the action yet to come. They'll be some. But first, chaaaaaracter conflicts! -dramatic music- By the way, if anyone likes Invader Zim or X-Men Evolution, I have a couple of stories of those.**

Chapter 7: Unexpected

Stripedpaw was bored. She knew that her warrior ceremony was that night, but she couldn't help feeling bored in the morning and afternoon. She was stuck watching Darkbranch mentor Midnightpaw. Hawkfur was mentoring hunting with Stripedpaw before, but his sister called him back to camp and he left her with the two dark-colored cats. Midnightpaw was a strange fighter, lunging and pouncing with swift, light and airy movements and hitting with heavy, hard-as-a-rock paw movements. Stripedpaw thought that if she was Midnightpaw's mentor, she'd be downright confused within an hour of watching her fight.

"No, you're not doing it right," Darkbranch said as he easily lifted himself from under Midnightpaw's uneven pin. With one swift paw movement he had Midnightpaw on her back. Stripedpaw loved watching the skinny, lanky tom move smoothly like water with his fighting moves.

"See, if I were your enemy, I would jump on you right now. So work on your pins, alright?" he said.

Midnightpaw sighed. "With who? You're not always available, and not all cats are willing to spend their hours pinned down." It was the first time Stripedpaw had heard the blue-black she cat talk all morning.

"You have no idea!" Darkbranch laughed.

Stripedpaw couldn't believe the two got along so well, being what she thought were opposite personalities. Midnightpaw was secretive, shy, and dark. Despite his pitch black fur, Darkbranch was brighter inside. He spoke and was friendly with all the cats and playfully teased whoever he was talking to. He talked to everyone while Midnightpaw only talked to a few people.

Stripedpaw was getting bored watching the two practice, so she gathered the mouse she caught and wandered back to camp. It would be sundown soon enough.

Stripedpaw was back at camp when she heard a rustling in the bushes. She turned around and found herself face-to-face with an unfamiliar cat. She could tell immediately from his scent that the white-silver colored cat was from FlowerClan.

The two just stared at each other for a minute, unsure of what to do next. The white tom was probably surprised he got caught, and Stripedpaw was surprised she caught him.

All of the sudden, Stripedpaw's emotions came boiling to the surface. "And just WHAT in the name of StarClan are you DOING in OUR territory?" she hissed loudly.

The dark-eyed tom remained annoyingly calm. "Uh, well… I got lost between borders, you know… and I decided that while I was here, I may as well get some hunting in." Stripedpaw saw the small fresh-kill pile at his feet.

He continued with ease, not realizing the anger Stripedpaw felt. "And I guess that I was just going to…" he was going to continue speaking, but he was interrupted by Stripedpaw, who swatted him in the face with her claws. He bled from three small cuts on face, and they stained his white fur.

"THAT'S NO REASON! Lost! Are you kidding me! No cats get 'lost' to the point where they drift into other territories! Just get out of here! And leave that fresh-kill behind!" Stripedpaw growled.

Now the tom got bothered. "But I caught it! Why should I leave it behind?"

"BECAUSE THAT'S _OUR _PREY, YOU MOUSE-BRAINED FOOL!"

She was about to yell at him more, but all of the sudden, another cat jumped through the bushes behind the white FlowerClan cat. With one quick movement, the tom rolled out from under the new fighter before she could plant herself on him.

"Yellowpaw?" Stripedpaw asked, looking at the new fighter.

"Yeah, I heard you yell," she responded while swinging at the tom. But he was just swiftly dodging her movements.

"Stop it, both of you!" Stripedpaw hissed. "Yellowpaw, calm down, I have it under control. And you, you arrogant tom! Get out of here! Get!"

The tom finally left, leaving his pile behind.

"Stripedpaw, what do you mean you had it under control? He was from FlowerClan. I recognized him from a gathering. He can't go to any gatherings anymore."

"Why not?" Stripedpaw asked.

"Because he was rude and disrespectful. Don't change the subject. Look, when cats blatantly cross over the territory like that, you have to send them out!"

"Well, he said he was lost..."

Yellowpaw spat. "Pffft! Lost! Yeah, right! You didn't believe that either! He was just having fun hunting _our_ prey in _our_ territory. Don't let his charm convince you."

"I wasn't going to let him convince me! Why, what would you have done? Fought him by yourself? He was older than us!"

"Yes, I would've fought! Why, are you getting angry at me for this? This is part of being a warrior!"

"Because I don't want you to get too cocky, that's all!"

Yellowpaw froze and looked at Stripedpaw. "I…can't believe it! You're as bad as my father! What, you think I'll just go killing off random cats? Because I dodge a couple more attacks than the other apprentices? Because my claws can dig a little deeper than the others? Because it takes me a few seconds less than the others to the pin a cat down?" Yellowpaw's voice was filled with hatred and anger. Her hackles were up. "I'm not STUPID! StarClan believes in me! It's about time you should, too!" Frustrated, Yellowpaw ran off towards camp.

Stripedpaw just stood there all alone. Sluggishly, she picked up the strange tom's fresh-kill pile and took it back to camp for her own clan. Maybe the other clan cats would like the two rabbits in the pile, but she had lost her appetite.

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**Now review. Review. Review. DO IT. Thanks by the way, to Rosepelt and Halfpelt, my top readers and reviewers! Check out their stories, they're great!**


	8. Chapter 8: See No Evil

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Why are you picking on me?**

**This chapter is short, I know. It's a Yellowpaw POV. Yay. Writing Yellowpaw comes easy to me, so this was a pretty fastly written chapter. Oh, and by the way, my pen name is Yellowfur. She is YELLOWpaw, but she is not modeled after me. Yellowpaw's warrior name (yes, it will come) will not be Yellowfur. Yellowpaw is much cooler than I am and is a better fighter than I would be if I were a clan cat. I would be a medicine cat's apprentice or someting. Let me just say for the record, the other clan cats in this forest are currently the following:**

**PondClan: Sort of like RiverClan in the real books in that they fish for food, but there is a different river nearby. This clan dwells on their own little pond that is connected to the river rather than around the main river itself.**

**RockClan: An aloof clan that resides in the boulders and rock shelters in a part of the forest.**

**FlowerClan: A clan that reside near colorful bushes of flowers.**

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Chapter 8: See No Evil

Yellowpaw sat in the apprentices' den, trying to sleep and failing miserably. She kept trying to forget about her and Stripedpaw's argument earlier, but she kept getting bitter reminders whenever she tossed or turned and realized how empty the den was getting. She, Midnightpaw, and Frecklepaw were all that remained. It felt even more vacant without Stripedpaw. Whenever she looked out of the den entranceway past the shrub-trees that encased the shelter (something that usually gave her either comfort in a quiet, safe camp or entertainment in watching cats move around, chat, or fight) she saw Stripedpaw sitting silent vigil. Puddlepaw, her companion for vigil, sat with comfort in her position with her eyes closed and chin up. Stripedpaw looked tense and distraught even with her eyes closed. Yellowpaw hoped Stripedpaw wasn't worrying about their argument. She didn't mean to yell at Stripedpaw. She just got angry, that's all. But whenever she thinks about the distrust coming from her father, her best friend, her leader, and all the other clan cats, she gets so angry inside she truly can't see straight. Her vision becomes blurry with anger. Yellowpaw sighed to herself.

_"Tomorrow", _she thought. _"I'm going to apologize to her. I don't want to be angry anymore. I just need to control my emotions a little better. I'll prove to everyone that I can control my power. They'll see, they'll see eventually."_ With that thought continuously going through her head, she also took a minute to think about the current distrust of others. When she opened her eyes, her vision was crystal clear. She sighed again, now out of contentment. Yellowpaw finally drifted off to sleep.

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**Review. Do it. It only takes about a mintue of your timeto do a competent review, people. Thank you again to those who have!**


	9. Chapter 9: Speak No Evil

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Capiche?**

**Beware! Another short chapter! After this they'll get longer again, really! If there any fans of Stripedpaw, in the next chapter her name will be Stripedtail. She's a warrior now. Puddlepaw will be...who knows what Puddlepaw will be. I'm open to suggestions. Winner will get...a happy feeling inside. If there any Spikepaw fans, he will show up a lot more in the following chapter. He will be Spikefur, and you'll get to see his personality a lot more.**

**Oh yeah, there might be some more delays. Tomorrow I have probably the most pain-ridden orthodontic appointment yet for this phase of my whatever-you-call-it, and relatives are coming into town. No doubt my grandma will read this story...**

**Shutting up now.**

Chapter 9: Speak No Evil

Stripedpaw sat next to Puddlepaw, trying not to fall asleep. She didn't want to fall asleep and miss her very own warrior silent vigil. However there was one thing keeping her awake. She knew it was keeping another awake as well. Stripedpaw heard someone in the apprentice den tossing and turning. She hoped it wasn't Yellowpaw, but when she opened her eyes for one second she saw it was. She realized that the warrior den is probably getting a little full. There were a lot of warriors. However, she knew that it wouldn't feel right until Yellowpaw was there with her. Stripedpaw predicted her frequent and restless movement meant that Yellowpaw was thinking about their squabble earlier. She didn't mean to hurt Yellowpaw's feelings; she just got a little worried was all.

_"In the morning…" _Stripedpaw said silently to herself. _"…when I can speak again, I'll apologize to Yellowpaw. I'll make sure she knows I trust her. I just have to have a little faith in her. I'll tell her…" _Stripedpaw paused in her thoughts. _"When I can speak again…"_


	10. Chapter 10: Hear No Evil

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warrirors. Stop yelling at me!**

**The winning name is Puddlemist. It's only mentioned once this chapter (she'll appear later).It was hard to choose. Let me just say that everyone who sent in a suggestion, thank you! You rock! I would never have gotten around to a name without you. Maybe later I'll let you choose stuff like that again. You've earned it by showing me you pay attention. Anyone who likes Spikefur (he _was_ Spikepaw), this chapter is a must-read. It's his POV.**

Chapter 10: Hear No Evil

Spikefur wandered around the camp, trying to make it look like he was doing something when he wasn't. He didn't feel like dealing with his mentor, the elders, the cats on the morning patrol, or those on the hunting patrol. That basically left strolling around the camp or hunting on his own. He would get started hunting soon on his own, but for now he just wanted to see what was going on…

"Spikefur, instead of walking with no place to go, why don't you go join the hunting patrol?" suggested Redpelt, a young she-cat warrior. She was walking out of camp and into the forest with Puddlemist.

_Dang._

Spikefur sighed and went along with the hunting patrol. Spikefur had a problem with all the cats in the patrol: Hawkfur (too bossy), Tawnythorn (doesn't he _ever _smile?), Badgerpaw (the new hyperactive apprentice of Tawnythorn), Midnightpaw (creepy cat), and her mentor Darkbranch (Spikefur didn't really have a problem with him; he just wanted another reason not to join the patrol). Spikefur thought that now that he was no longer Spike_paw _but Spike_fur _he should at least decide what he wants to do a little bit. He even loved his new warrior name. Spikefur, SPIKEFUR, _Spiiiikefuuuur._

He sulked as he joined the team and made a mental note to ditch them for the first whiff of prey. Lucky for him, this opportunity came quickly when he caught the scent of a rabbit. As he crept into the bushes, he spotted his prey. The rabbit must've also quickly caught his scent because he took off in a flash. Spikefur was running after it in his own little race, and losing. When the rabbit seemed to have a hopeless gain, Spikefur gave up and turned back toward his hunting group. All of the sudden, he heard a noise in the pink rose bushes next to him. _"Ooops!" _he thought. _"I'm in FlowerClan territory! I should get out of here, fast as lightning!" _And he was about to escape, but he heard two cats talking and mentioned the word "TreeClan". So Spikefur decided to stay behind and listen for a while.

One cat was a young silver-colored tom with a guilty look on his face. "But I thought you said I could! You said…"

"I know what I said! But you took it to the next level. I said you could hunt on the border edges! Not go into the thick of enemy territory!" replied the older tom next to him. Spikefur recognized him as Cricketstar, the leader of FlowerClan.

"I could handle myself if I get caught! And I did!"

"Being found by two foolhardy she-cat apprentices does not count as being caught."

The silver tom sighed. "Look, I'll be more careful next time. And I will remember the other thing you said to do…um…what was it?" He tried to lighten that up with a sheepish grin.

The bigger cat looked like he was about to strike the silver tom. "I told you to watch the TreeClan cats in their movements. Their 'powers' in trees is _not _a birth trait. It _must _be a trick somehow, in the movements of their feet and tails! You are one of our quickest, slyest warriors, Swiftfoot. Now start acting like it!"

Swiftfoot nodded his head with a forlorn look on his face.

Meanwhile, Spikefur could not believe his yellow-furred ears. Spying on TreeClan! The nerve! But in the midst of his anger, Spikefur felt a bit of fear, too.Spikefur dashed back to camp as fast as he could, no longer feeling like the brave and powerful Spikefur. Spikepaw, the small, unknowing apprentice was back again.

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**Well? What did you think of the first official Spikefur POV? Tell me what you think, should there be more of him or is he a jerk? If you do like him, though, he'll be on hiatus for a few chapters. He'll be back, don't worry. Oh yeah, and I'm sorry about the very slight (you might not have even noticed it) delay. There might be more of that, I'm busy lately.**


	11. Chapter 11: Ambush

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Why can't we agree on that?**

**So, here is the 11th chapter. Before I talk anymore, take a look at the chapter title. Surprise! Finally we see some action, right? This action sequence was surprisingly easy for me. I should write more of them (maybe I'm just a violent person). **

Chapter 11: Ambush

Yellowpaw sulked while on the morning patrol. She wanted to talk to Stripedpaw as soon as possible and this was just delaying her. Redfur, Sootstep, and Cloudynight were the other ones on the patrol and they weren't interesting her at all.

All of the sudden, Badgerpaw came bursting through the bushes. "The…the…hunting patrol…." She gasped.

"Yeah? What's wrong?" asked Cloudynight.

"We're being attacked!"

Cloudynight waited on longer to run through the forest to find the ambushed hunting patrol. The rest of the morning patrol followed her. When they burst through the bushes and found the battle, Yellowpaw was the first to hurl herself at a brindle she-cat who had Midnightpaw pinned down. Cloudynight jumped at a large brown tom, and Redfur and Sootstep went to help those who needed it.

Yellowpaw vigorously scratched the back of the she-cat with her front claws. The she-cat yelped, squirmed out form under Yellowpaw and ran off. Yellowpaw turned around to help her other clanmates and met face to face with the silvery-white tom she had seen the day before.

"Hi! Fancy seeing you here!" he mewed with fake enthusiasm.

Yellowpaw clawed the same part of face that got clawed the day before. He let out a yowl of pain from his scars being reopened and enlarged. She was about to pounce had he not ran off with shocking speed.

When she turned around, she saw that the rest of the FlowerClan cats had disappeared into the forest. The injuries were not that serious among the TreeClan cats.

Yellowpaw headed back to camp to tell the leader of the ambush.

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**Well? TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK: Should I have more action later? Or do I suck at action? I know, this action-y part was very short, it was my first try, other battles will be longer. **


	12. Chapter 12: Fear

**Disclaimer: Bla bla, I do not own Warriors and kittens are adorable.**

**Okay, this chapter is longer than the last couple were, right? I hope so. I don't want to curse you with short chapters forever. And I've been writing TreeClan like crazy, I banged out the next two chapters already. Shutting up now. Read.**

Chapter 12: Fear

Stripedtail sat next to Yellowpaw in the apprentice den. Stripedtail knew she herself was a warrior, but she needed someone close to her that night. The gathering of the clans was that night; and TreeClan was seething from the ambush their patrol took just that morning. Thinstar would try her best to remain calm, Stripedtail knew, but she could already picture the dirty looks her clan mates would be giving FlowerClan cats.

"So what do you think is going to happen?" Yellowpaw turned and asked Stripedtail with a playful twinkle in her eyes. "Who do you think will snap first, Largefoot, Hawkfur, or Shorttail?"

"Hmmm…" Stripedtail pretended to think about it long and hard. "All three at the same time!" She purred in amusement. Yellowpaw joined her.

Stripedtail enjoyed having Yellowpaw back by her side. After they apologized to each other, it was like nothing ever happened. And Stripedpaw was happy that way. Plus, she had developed a new fear. Since the attack that morning, Stripedtail was afraid that FlowerClan and TreeClan were going to be engaging in a large, full-clan battle soon. She remembered when she was a very tiny kit; FlowerClan and RockClan had done just that. Stripedtail was too young to really comprehend what was going on to make the two clans so angry with each other, but she did know now that RockClan hadn't been the same since. They seemed weaker and more aloof, keeping to themselves a lot, whether in clan gatherings or just a few cats from different clans meeting up with each other.

Stripedtail got up to walk around camp and see what others were up to. She went into the medicine cat's den.

"Hello, Frecklepaw. Is Crazyeyes here?" she asked.

Crazyeyes interrupted. "Yes I am!" he came into the den and shut his eyes for a minute. When he reopened them, he asked Frecklepaw to tell him when the leader got back and went further into the den.

Stripedtail sauntered out of there and into the warrior's den. Rainclaw, Tawnythorn, Redpelt, Sootstep, and Sandyfur were all eating and talking together. She didn't want to interrupt whatever they were talking about (and didn't really want to join in such a big group discussion), so she went into back into the apprentice den. Darkbranch had taken Midnightpaw to the gathering, so Yellowpaw and Badgerpaw were still the only apprentices in the currently in the den. Yellowpaw wasn't there, and Stripedtail figured she went out for a walk; one of Yellowpaw's favorite things to do. Stripedtail figured she liked it so much because it gave her an extra sense of security that everything was fine, inside the camp and out. She walked over to Badgerpaw.

"Hi, Badgerpaw. How is your apprentice training going?"

"Hi Stripedtail! It's going great! Fine! I love working with Tawnythorn!" she replied fastly.

"What is he like?"

"Wellllll, he's really strong…but he seems nervous to work around me…he's never had an apprentice before…"

"What? Really?" Stripedtail asked in disbelief. Tawnythorn was probably too new a warrior for an apprentice, and most cats knew that. But he was one of the best warriors in the clan (if one of the scariest to Stripedtail). Stripedtail couldn't imagine Tawnythorn doubting himself.

"Yeah!" Badgerpaw replied. "He's never sure if he's teaching me a move the right way. We always end up doing a move, like, five different ways before he decides on one way to do it." Something else caught Badgerpaw's attention and she sprinted off.

"Hey!" Yellowpaw came through the entrance. "I just came back form my walk. I wonder how the Gathering is going…."

Stripedtail realized she wondered the same thing as well.

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**The next chapter is titled "The Gathering". Hoo boy, that should be good...and surprise, it's a Midnightpaw POV! Darkbranch is there, too. He's one of my personal favorites.**


	13. Chapter 13: The Gathering

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Do you?**

**This chapter is takes place at the gathering, just as I promised. There's Midnightpaw and Darkbranch and Thinstar and other clan leaders and other peoples. Now...bye.**

Chapter 13: The Gathering

Midnightpaw did not want to stick right by Darkbranch's side anymore. But she did not want to do go see the other clan apprentices. There were no other TreeClan apprentices at the Gathering, and she didn't want to go off alone. She didn't particularly like the other apprentices, but she preferred to have them there than not. At least with Yellowpaw or Badgerpaw, one of them would strike up a conversation. Midnightpaw was so wrapped up in her thoughts she hadn't realized she just missed what the RockClan leader had just said. The gathering must have already started.

The tom Windstar was about to wrap up what he had to say about RockClan. "Overall, there is nothing new to report. Thinstar? Would you like to go next?"

"Yes," Thinstar said with a very stern look on her face. Midnightpaw could tell by the look on his face that Cricketstar, the FlowerClan leader, knew Thinstar was going to talk about the ambush the TreeClan patrol had gotten from FlowerClan.

Thinstar wasted no time. "We must say immediately that my morning patrol, just this morning, was attacked by FlowerClan cats." She heard the murmurs of disbelief from Windstar and Snowstar, leader of PondClan. "Yes, that's right, just this morning."

Midnightpaw could not place the look on Cricketstar's face. She looked at Darkbranch; she knew he could always read a cat's face. She learned all of her tips on face, body, and tail movement from him. She was surprised to see his hackles up and his mouth curled back in a hiss. "Look at Cricketstar! He's happy! He's _proud _of what he had his cats do!" Midnightpaw could not see anything identifiable about Cricketstar's face or body, but she knew not to doubt Darkbranch. Thinstar was continuing about the attack on the patrol, but was interrupted by Cricketstar.

"I am not apologizing! No doubt that your clan was on the borders, or in my territory! Probably not far in, but in my territory!"

Thinstar was really getting angry. "_We were not in your territory! _My patrol was ambushed! Well within our own borders! I _demand _to know why you ordered your warriors to do so!"

Cricketstar continued to stare down Thinstar. "Maybe if we had a fair amount of territory, as much as you did, we wouldn't feel so caged in, and we wouldn't feel the need to fight for a fair amount of territory! TreeClan cats have both their ground territory and the trees above them at their disposal!"

Before Thinstar could continue the argument, Snowstar stood up. "That's enough out of you, Cricketstar! All the clans have equal amounts of territory! How they use other resources within their own territory is up to them!" Snowstar was a pretty white she-cat with yellow eyes. She was the newest leader, the old PondClan leader Mudstar had lost his ninth life just a moon before. Snowstar was younger than most leaders and could have a bit of a temper, but also had a good head on shoulders.

Thinstar had run out of the energy for more arguing. Cricketstar looked like he was ashamed to have been told to be quiet by a leader younger than him. Snowstar was alert and ready for anything, and Windstar looked like he wished the Gathering would be over already.

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**Guess what the next chapter is about? If you guessed ROMANCE (surprise!) you were right! Try to guess who it is in your review before the time is up! (I think it shouldn't be that hard.) Winners get...smiley face laden thoughts for a minute or two.**


	14. Chapter 14: It's About Time

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. They're watching you...**

**Here it is, the first official romance chapter! Let me just explain something to you. I like a good relationship. I really do. I don't write romance more solely because writing romance does not come easy to me and I'm not that good at it either. You can see that though, right here. This must be the first chapter I ever wrote in any of my stories that I truely don't like. It feels forced.**

Chapter 14: It's About Time

Stripedtail got what she was waiting for a long time: alone time with Spikefur. She and him were on a hunting patrol together and the others went a few trees away.

Stripedtail was very nervous being around him for a prolonged time and was messing up her hunting. She was trying to figure out a way to tell him she how much she cared for him.

She decided to start by complimenting him. "That's a good catch," she said, looking at Spikefur's growing pile of fresh-kill, specifically directing her view towards the big rabbit. Spikefur kept his trademark warrior face, but Stripedtail could see by a flicker in his eye that he was flattered.

"You're a great fighter _and _hunter…" Stripedtail began. "Maybe that's why…I care for you so much."

Spikefur lost his serious face and looked up at her in surprise. The two just stood staring at each other for a minute. _"Stupid Stripedtail!" _she silently said to herself, now wishing she hadn't made such a sudden, bold move. She was scolding herself silently, but stopped in the midst of her thoughts when she he said something in response.

"I…um…well, I don't know how to say this, but…" Spikefur was visibly uneasy. "I really like you, too, Stripedtail."

An excited pulse ran through Stripedtail's body. She ran what he said through her head a few times. _"Did he say-" _She thought to herself. _"He liked me, too?"_

The two stood staring at each other, partially in surprise and partially in happiness.

Yellowpaw burst through the bushes. "Hey! Stop spacing out! Didn't you hear me?"

"What?" Stripedtail mumbled.

"I called your names a hundred times! It's time to go!" She said. Yellowpaw led the way back to camp. She couldn't help but notice that Stripedtail and Spikefur walked side by side. She turned around to face them.

"And I heard what you guys were saying a little bit…and it's about time!"

* * *

**Awww...how sweet. Even seeing it now makes me cringe. I suck at writing lovey-dovey stuff...so please TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. Do I suck at writing romance? Do you like this couple? Tell me tell me tell me!**


	15. Chapter 15: Seriously

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. What's on the dessert menu?**

**So, here we are. Short chapter, I know, there will be those, but we are nearing a big clan-versus-clan battle. After this is over, I might make a sequel or something.**

**There are going to be delays more often. I'm going to start school soon. I went to orientation yesterday to get my schedule, and SURPRISE! The school lost my schedule! And about 100 other schedules too! I guess I don't exist. Well, it doesn't matter, because if they don't have my schedule ready on Monday when my dad goes, he's going to yell at them! Yay!**

**Enjoy Darkbranch acting totally un-Darkbranch and Spikefur and Yellowpaw being...themselves, I guess. Maybe.**

**Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to youtube and look for clips of the CSI: Miami episode: Lost Son (is it too much to ask for to see how my favorite actors die these days?)**

Chapter 15: Seriously

Stripedtail walked out of the warrior's den, where she met up with Darkbranch.

"Good morning, Stripedtail!" he said to her cheerfully.

She yawned and half-smiled. "You really are a morning cat, aren't you?" She straightened up a little and shook the tiredness out of her eyes. "Um, I forgot to ask, yesterday was a little crazy for me…how did the gathering go?" Stripedtail could tell by their faces when they came back that it was not pleasant, but she needed details.

Darkbranch's eyes hardened. "That mouse-brained Cricketstar. He seemed proud of the ambush he had his warriors do to us." He paused and sighed. "I just hope he doesn't launch a bigger attack on us."

Stripedtail could feel her spine and tail stiffen. "Do you think he would? I mean, seriously-"

"_Seriously_, he could. I wouldn't put it past him." Darkbranch interrupted.

Stripedtail pushed past him when she saw Yellowpaw.

"Hey, Yellowpaw! Do you want to go on the hunting patrol? With Hawkfur, Goldenlash, Galewind, and I?"

Yellowpaw sighed before answering. "I can't. I have apprentice training to do with Cloudynight…"

"Oh, okay. Maybe later."

Yellowpaw walked off with a sad look on her face. Stripedtail felt bad for her. She knew she would be sad too if she was still an apprentice when her brother and best friend were already warriors.

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That evening, Spikefur went across camp with a spring in his step. He made his way over to the stump in the middle of the camp and grabbed a mouse off of it.

"I suppose you're going to share that?" Yellowpaw came up from behind.

"Maybe I want it all for myself," he teased.

She laughed and followed him into the warriors den. He turned around. "Unless you'd rather us eat somewhere else?" he asked.

"No, here is fine," Yellowpaw looked happy to be welcomed into the warriors den by any cat, even if it was her brother.

After a few bites of the mouse were gone, Yellowpaw turned to face Spikefur.

"So, tell me, what's happening between you and Stripedtail?" she looked curious and a little excited.

Spikefur looked a little embarrassed. "Um, I guess we're…" he thought for a minute on how to continue. "…more than friends…?" he said awkwardly.

Yellowpaw laughed at his response. He was obviously caught off guard. He too, let out a purr of amusement.

"I like it! You two make a seriously cute couple! And she's been waiting for it!" Yellowpaw exclaimed. She took another bite of the mouse and stood up. "Got to go,"

"Apprentice jobs?" her brother teased.

"Just you wait when I catch up to you!" She purred, and walked out the entrance, leaving a half-dazed Spikefur.

"Seriously cute…couple…?" he mumbled to himself.

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**I'm building up suspense. (-:**


	16. Chapter 16: The Calm Before The Storm

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Zim, you have head pigeons!**

**I know, this chapter is PAINFULLY short, and the next one will be short, too. But be patient. The big battle is coming up soon. Just trust in me (there will be a twist). Besides, Badgerpaw learns in this chapter that sometimes, two simple words can mean a lot!**

Chapter 16: The Calm Before The Storm

Badgerpaw looked around. She was desperate to please her mentor by showing him what she had learned recently. She first caught a whiff of prey, and whirled around to begin stalking it.

But she realized it was in a tree, and she would have to pursue it up there. She turned around and began to climb an old-looking tree, with some of its bark peeling. Slowly, Badgerpaw began to climb up the trunk, her tail twitching, her paws quiet, even while scraping against the bark a little bit.

_Careful…keep your weight balanced…_

She made it up another tail-length.

_You can see him! You can see that squirrel! Just a little closer!_

A noisy rustle was audible a few fox-lengths away from the tree Badgerpaw was in. She was distracted, and let her paw slip. Her claws made a loud scratching noise as a strip of bark fell. The gray squirrel realized Badgerpaw's presence and ran away.

_Aw! That was an easy one! Tawnythorn is going to flip…_

Badgerpaw jumped off the tree with her head down, expecting to be scolded by Tawnythorn immediately. But when she heard nothing for a moment, she looked up at him. He was turned completely around, his tan and brown striped tail facing Badgerpaw.

"Tanwytho-"

"Shh! Quiet!" Tawnythorn hissed, and lowered into a crouch. Badgerpaw assumed she should too, and crouched as well.

"What is it?" She whispered.

He turned to face her, his bright green eyes locked with hers. "More invaders,"

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**Uh-oh. That should spell t-r-o-u-b-l-e for our home clan! Er...my home clan.**

**Oh, and a happy birthday out to one of my favorite writers, Rosepelt! I'll be watching on the 20th!**

**Now, review your brains out. All of you. Accepting constructive criticism!**


	17. Chapter 17: Move Forward

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. If you don't know that by now, you're slow. **

**Almost there! Oh, and I am sorry for the slight delay in chapters. **

Chapter 17: Move Forward

Badgerpaw's heart skipped a beat. She could feel her eyes widen on her slightly rounded face.

_"Invaders! Again! We just got attacked the other day!" _Badgerpaw thought frantically.

"H-how many?" she stammered.

There was a din of rustling heard in the bushes.

Tawnythorn was shocked. "An entire clan!"

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A tabby tom was leading his clan through the forest over to neighboring TreeClan. He was about to launch his attack, and he secretly hoped the clan was up to TreeClan's fighting style. He turned around to face his deputy.

"Sharpear!" he said to his she-cat deputy. She raised her slightly scarred, golden-furred face to meet his.

"I want you to lead one half of the group…" the leader said to his deputy. "Around the back of the camp, so we can attack from both sides."

"Who is in my group?" she asked.

"Dawntail, Frosttail, Snowfur, Autumnpelt, Silkeyes, Goldenpaw, Silverfoot, Granitepelt, and Blackpaw. I will take the others."  
Sharpear nodded and signaled for her group of cats to follow her. They turned to the left and began to snake around behind the path to the TreeClan camp.

"Oh, and one more thing, Sharpear!" the tom called out. She came to a halt and ran a few steps back to hear her leader better.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Remember, and tell the other cats to remember, to keep an eye on the trees, too. Some cats will reside in there until they make their move."

She gave a small nod. "I will remember, Windstar."

"Good," Windstar watched as his deputy led the cats to launch their attack. He turned around to face his group.

"Come, RockClan!" he let out a battle cry. "Move forward!"

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**Were you expecting that? I hope not. If so, I'm bad at surprises. (bonks head)**

**Watch for the next chapter, it should be here by the 24th! Earlier if I can.**

**Never stop reviewing, people.**

**Byebye.**


	18. Chapter 18: Rising Action

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Deal with it.**

**Let's get fighting! Go, TreeClan! -oh wait, I'm writing it...-**

Chapter 18: Rising Action

Frecklepaw looked at the herbs in front of him with confusion. He had drawn a blank on what does what.

_Let's see, Owlwing has sore joints. So there are poppy seeds to chew on, but what about the poultice? There should be yarrow…and what else? I think it was juniper…or does that help with colds?_

Crazyeyes walked with herbs stuffing his mud brown muzzle to it's brim. He and plopped a couple of other strong-smelling herbs near the pile, then looked at the very confused Frecklepaw and let out a purr of amusement. "Need some help?"

Frecklepaw looked down at his paws. "I can't remember anything!"

"Cheer up. You're new at this. And besides, there isn't a medicine cat in history of TreeClan or StarClan that hasn't had at _least _a smidgen of trouble or confusion at some point, let alone while being an apprentice."

Frecklepaw seemed unsatisfied still and disappointed in himself. He opened his mouth to say something in reply to Crazyeyes, but they both heard a commotion going on outside.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Crazyeyes demanded. Redpelt, looking flustered, ran up to Crazyeyes. "Tawnythorn and Badgerpaw! They say they discovered a whole clan of cats coming to invade! They just made it back from training!"

Thinstar was on top of the tall, dead, tree. It was the oldest one in the camp, mostly a stump, and it was wherever Thinstar gathered up her cats or make announcements.

"May all cats old enough to climb up a tree meet under Deadtree!" Thinstar declared. All cats promptly gathered in a cluster under Thinstar.

"All the elders take refuge in their den! All queens stay inside their dens to protect the kits! I think we may soon be under attack by FlowerClan" Thinstar did a quick once-over of her clan.

"Goldenlash and Rainclaw! You two stay by the elders' den! And I want Darkbranch and Redfur to protect the nursery!"

Frecklepaw looked at the other apprentices. Yellowpaw was standing by Stripedtail. They both looked alert and ready to fight. Midnightpaw was looking around nervously. She seemed worried now that her mentor had gone off to protect the nursery, away from her side.

Before Thinstar could say anything else, there were loud snapping and crunching sounds as part of RockClan broke through the wall at the back of camp. Sharpear let out a battle cry and she and her group of cats came running into the clan, ready to attack.

"Sharpear? Of RockClan!" Thinstar said in disbelief.

Immediately prior to that, Windstar led the rest of RockClan into the TreeClan camp entrance. A yowl of fear could be heard from a kit inside the nursery.

Frecklepaw whirled around and searched the flurry of fur, a mix of the leaner, nimble TreeClan cats and slightly more bulky RockClan cats, with more muscle from climbing on their wide and hard territory, mostly made up large boulders and a few patches of grass.

Frecklepaw had lost sight of Crazyeyes. His sister Puddlemist was nowhere to be found. He couldn't see Yellowpaw anywhere. Frecklepaw was getting nervous when he spotted Midnightpaw pinned under a tabby she-cat, Frecklepaw guessed she was also an apprentice by her size.

Frecklepaw took a deep breath. _"Okay, here you go…" _Frecklepaw summoned all of his strength into his thin legs and charged with all his might into the tabby apprentice. She went flying a few feet back off of Midnightpaw and fell down. The tabby hissed at Frecklepaw and got up to fight back. Midnightpaw stood up quickly, and looked at Frecklepaw.

"Um…thank you! But I can take care of it from here on out!" The dark-furred, long-limbed she-cat stood up to face her opponent and jumped at her with her claws unsheathed.

Frecklepaw heard a cat yowl and turned around in time to see a RockClan tabby running out of the camp.

Frecklepaw felt afraid of what was going on. He ran towards three RockClan cats attacking Puddlemist and Spikefur, and prayed to StarClan that his clan would make it through this okay.

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**More fighting next chapter! Oh yeah, and the chapter titles are gonna be pretty boring for the next couple of chapters. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.**

**Prepare yourself. I think you know what I'll be writing and...what? Oh...you mean you actually thought I'd go through a whole story without one single tragedy or death? Aw, that's so sweet! **


	19. Chapter 19: Battle

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. I don't suffer from insanity, people. I enjoy every minute of it.**

**Uh, yeah. Fighting. More. Yippee. Yes, yes, oh yay.**

Chapter 19: Battle

Yellowpaw whirled around and jumped away from her attacker's claws. She ran into him headfirst, and butted him into a nearby tree. He yowled and ran out of TreeClan camp.

"Bluefang!" a pale tabby she-cat apprentice yelled. She turned to Yellowpaw. "Now you're going to get it!"

Yellowpaw hissed at the apprentice. She jumped to the side when the apprentice lunged at her. The tabby then tried to swing at her with both claws, but Yellowpaw jumped on her and bit her shoulder. The she-cat howled, and wriggled out from under Yellowpaw, then ran off.

Yellowpaw looked around. Hawkfur was swinging at Sharpear. Darkbranch was in a vicious tussle a tortoiseshell RockClan warrior. Stripedtail sunk her claws into the back of a yowling RockClan she-cat. Sandyfur was chasing after a warrior.

Yellowpaw heard a screech and turned around. Some warrior had Badgerpaw pinned down. Yellowpaw ran over and pounced on the warrior. Then, she began to dig her back claws into the RockClan warrior's back. The dusty gray-colored tom wriggled out from under her and flipped her over. Before he could jump on Yellowpaw, Badgerpaw swung at his head and cut his left ear badly. He half-yowled, half-hissed and ran off, tilting his head towards his injured ear.

Yellowpaw turned to Badgerpaw. "Great move! I was almost fresh-kill there!" Yellowpaw then ran off to help out the gray she-cat Mistyfur, struggling while trying to keep away a RockClan warrior and apprentice, leaving Badgerpaw, who was swelling with pride from the compliment she received.

Tawnythorn ran by Badgerpaw. "Badgerpaw! Wake up! Go help one of the warriors!"

She looked apprehensive. "Do you think I…can?"

"Yes! Go!"

Badgerpaw ran off uneasily, looking around for anyone who needed help. Sootstep and Sandyfur chased off another RockClan warrior. Redfur was keeping a golden-colored tabby tom from entering the nursery. A RockClan tortoiseshell she-cat limped out of the hole RockClan initially made in the back wall of shrubs with their entrance.

Badgerpaw ran towards a cat who had Goldenlash pinned down.

_Come on Badgerpaw! Help your clan!_

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**'Til next time. Byebye.**


	20. Chapter 20: Tragedy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. I'm cursed and cursed again.**

**Prepare yourself. This is concluding the fight. Enjoy it. Or try to.**

Chapter 20: Tragedy

Midnightpaw tried to ignore the large cut on her flank. RockClan was losing speed and warriors, but slowly. Too slowly. She looked around frantically.

"_Where's Darkbranch?" _she thought frantically.

"Midnightpaw!" Right on cue, Darkbranch appeared behind Midnightpaw.

_"Thank you, StarClan!" _She thought.

"Darkbranch! Am I glad to see you, finally!" Midnightpaw said. "What about the nursery?"

"Redfur has that covered," he looked at Midnightpaw. "Go. Get to the medicine cat's den. You're bleeding badly."

"Look at you!" she said. "That one claw mark…" Midnightpaw looked at the three jagged cuts on his shoulder and leg. They seemed to bleed almost with each pulse.

"It doesn't matter. We're winning. They're going down."

"Good." Midnightpaw felt something wet hit her shoulder. Then her head. She looked up and fat raindrops plopped on her face. The rain came down harder, and continued to gain strength and quantity in no time at all. Midnightpaw could see a flash in the sky. A low rumble soon followed.

She looked at the cats around her. The idea of a thunderstorm in the middle of a losing battle was enough to send a couple RockClan cats running away. A majority of TreeClan cats around her that were still fighting had ran up the trees, ready to attack their enemies from there.

"That won't stop me!" a black she-cat RockClan apprentice began to go up a tree to follow Frecklepaw.

"Nightpaw, don't!" Another RockClan warrior shouted.

When the cat came up the tree, Frecklepaw reached down and clawed at Nightpaw viciously, keeping his balance with ease. Nightpaw wobbled, and eventually lost her balance and went tumbling down the trunk. She yowled and limped off as fast as she could with an injured foreleg.

Rain pounded on the dens and trees. Jagged lightning bolts cut through the sky and thunder pounded loudly.

Tawnythorn looked at Sandyfur in the next tree over. "We should retreat! The rain is too heavy!"

"I can barely see anything!" Yellowpaw agreed. She was in the same tree as Tawnythorn, on the large branch next to him.

"No! Not yet!" Sandyfur insisted. "We're almost done with this!"

Lightning illuminated the sky. Thunder pounded in Midnightpaw's ears. She ran towards the medicine cat's den, and realized she could barely see where she was going in the rainstorm.

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Yellowpaw looked around frantically. She couldn't see if any RockClan cats were left in TreeClan camp. Her fur was thick, heavy and soaked from being in the rain. The lightning was her only hope of seeing clearly, and she had stinging cuts on her back right leg. But she knew Sandyfur was right; they couldn't give up yet! They were going to win if she could just hold on a bit longer. She caught sight of a RockClan cat climbing up the trunk. The rain and wind were holding him back, so he tried swatting at Yellowpaw with his claws out. In an instant she reached down and kicked him with her good back leg. He fell down and ran off.

_Are there any left?_

Lightning shot through the sky. Yellowpaw closed her eyes to shield them from the flash. An extremely loud crack was heard throughout the sky. Then she heard a yowl and a thump. She looked around frantically.

_"Did a cat fall from the trees?" _Yellowpaw thought in panic.

Another illumination lit up the camp. She looked down. Cloudynight was lying on the ground, motionless. Yellowpaw let out a wail and ran down the wet tree as fast as she could; so fast she almost jumped the entire way down.

The rain was letting up slightly. Yellowpaw didn't even notice, though. She was nuzzling her mentor's flank, willing her to get up.

"Cloudynight! _Cloudynight!_" she said, her voice rising in fear.

Sandyfur and Tawnythorn were down on the ground as well. Yellowpaw looked down at her mentor in panic. She prayed to StarClan that what she was witnessing wasn't true; just a nightmare. She didn't even know Cloudynight was in a tree! How could she have fallen? Yellowpaw didn't even notice that most of the rest of the TreeClan cats had gathered around.

Crazyeyes ran over to Cloudynight with worry in his eyes. He inspected Cloudynight. When he was done, the worry in his eyes was replaced with sadness as turned around and whispered something to Thinstar. The rain was replaced with a light drizzle now. There were only a few traces of thunder left that accompanied small flashes of lightning.

Stripedtail ran around Cloudynight's lifeless body to Yellowpaw. She tried to lead away her shivering friend. Yellowpaw let out one more wail before walking away to the medicine cat's den with Crazyeyes.

Thinstar stood on the tree stump in the middle of the camp. "Cats of TreeClan, we mourn the loss of a great warrior, and a great mentor." Blood glistened on a cut on Thinstar's muzzle, but she paid it no heed. "May her soul rest in peace in StarClan tonight." Thinstar bowed her head. The other cats did the same.

Thinstar looked up again after a short silence. "Her body will remain with us tonight, so we may share tongues with her one last time before she moves on."

Yellowpaw ran out of the medicine cat's den to be one of the first to share tongues with her mentor and say goodbye.

"I won't forget you, Cloudynight," she said into Cloudynight's black fur.

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**I know, you're thinking "that bee-yotch! Why did she have to kill off a cat like that?" Well, look at this way, readers. At least it wasn't Yellowpaw, Spikefur, or Stripedtail, right?**

**I bet you never thought you'd see Yellowpaw give in to emotion like that. Well, everyone has a weak spot, people. When you find it, you just have to pick at it and pick at it and pick at it until it bleeds. That is, if you want to be known as evil, like moi.**


	21. Chapter 21: Good News

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Meep.**

**Don't worry. It isn't over. I want to conclude stuff more before ending it. And I'll be giving myself stuff to play with, come sequel time. You know, maybe romances, enemies, rogues, kittypets, kits, natural disasters, Twolegs, dogs, other animals, sickness, StarClan, habitat destruction, clan disappearance, clan-blending, mysterious mysteries, weather changes, starvation, animal control, I basically can work with anything I want. I just have to decide on something. **

**So, I'm letting you decide some of it! Got a request for something you want to see? Have a suggestion or clever idea? Send it in! You can help build the setting for TreeClan: the sequel!**

**Note: I don't guarantee I'll use your suggestion. So if I don't, don't think I hate you.**

Chapter 21: Good News

Stripedtail ran into the apprentice den. Just that previous day, her best friend's mentor was killed by a bolt of lightning. But Stripedtail had news that might cheer her up.

"Yellowpaw! Come out here right now! Thinstar has called a meeting!"

Yellowpaw was napping. She got up, yawned, and trudged unenthusiastically out of the den without saying a word. She was still depressed over the loss of her mentor, Cloudynight.

"Cats of TreeClan," Thinstar addressed her clan. "I know we will not forget the tragedy that ended yesterday's battle for a long time, but now I have good news." She turned to Yellowpaw. "Yellowpaw, I would be assigning you a new mentor right now. However, I feel that due to the skills you presented yesterday in the heat of battle, you are ready to become a warrior."

Yellowpaw's head jerked up in surprise and her eyes widened. She walked over to the wide stump Thinstar was, unsure of what to do or say next.

"Are you willing to fight for TreeClan even if it means risking your life?" Thinstar asked Yellowpaw.

"Yes! I am!" Yellowpaw's blue eyes shone with pride.

"Then your warrior name shall be Yellowpelt."

"Yellowpelt…" she repeated happily.

The clan started chanting Yellowpelt's name over and over. Stripedtail looked around. Spikefur was jumping up and down in joy for his sister. Frecklepaw was among the loudest saying her name. Stripedtail could tell Yellowpelt was thoroughly happy; this what she was waiting for. After the chanting died down, Yellowpelt made her way through the crowd towards Stripedtail.

"And how does it feel?" Stripedtail asked Yellowpelt, smiling.

"It feels…fantastic! But…" Yellowpelt's happiness seemed to fade slightly. "I wish Cloudynight was here to see me now."

"Right now she's the proudest cat in StarClan. Trust me." Stripedtail assured her.

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**Aww, how corny.**

**Really though, I thought it was pretty predictable. I'm kind of disappointed in myself for doing that, actually. I should have made a twist.**

**SO, with that note, I am declaring TreeClan officially not over quite yet. I have to twist your brain, at least a little bit!**


	22. Chapter 22: The End and a New Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster with more energy!**

**Well, TreeClan Book 1 is officially coming to an end. This chapter does not offer closure, but instead an opening.**

**Yes, this chapter is quite long, over a thousand words. (Compared to some of my itty-bitty chapters) It is, if you may, an uber-chapter.**

Chapter 22: The End and a New Beginning

Stripedtail stuck her head out of the den and looked up. Snow was falling from the sky in a calming, slow swirling pattern. She thought the gray sky, white snowflakes, and cold, brisk air was comforting and sort of lonely at the same time. She was considering going back inside and curling up for a little more sleep before the other cats woke up (it was still very early in the morning). Before she could turn around, Spikefur walked up beside her and entwined his tail around hers.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"The snow," she said, even though she was now looking at him.

"It's pretty…" he said pensively. After a little pause of silence, he spoke up again. "Are you scared?"

"Of what?"

"More attacks," Spikefur shuffled his front paws and looked down at them.

She sighed. "I think there's a distinct possibility that we will be attacked again. In fact, I highly doubt we've been through our last battle. We're in the peak of conflict."

"You're not scared, are you?"

"Maybe…"

"Well, I'm here to protect you!" Spikefur licked her shoulder quickly before running off. "I'm going to catch some breakfast before the elders make a fuss about no prey and being cold!" he called over his shoulder.

Smiling, Stripedtail thought that for the most part, she could take of herself just fine. But she realized that considering all that was going on; she shouldn't mind a little extra security.

Stripedtail heard a few other cats stir, and walked back into the den. She couldn't figure out why, but she felt even a little colder than before.

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Yellowpelt walked towards the queens hollow. She only visited this place from time to time, to see her mother Sunnywing. Sunnywing was the oldest nursery queen, and she said after her next litter, she was not going to give birth to any more kits. But now her pregnant belly was swelled, her kits almost ready to come out.

"Hello, Sunnywing," Yellowpelt mewed happily.

"Hello, Yellowpelt. As you can see, I'm near birth." Sunnywing looked outside and gave a huff. "Honestly, I had to have kits in bareleaf! It's too cold for my liking! You should have heard Spottedback's kits when it was just starting to get colder outside." Sunnywing glanced over at Spottedback, who was watching her kits play outside, trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues and squealing with delight when they actually would. Yellowpelt giggled when the tabby tom kit and tortoiseshell she-cat kit collided with each other trying to catch snowflakes. The third kit, Stonekit, laughed loudly. Yellowpelt couldn't help chuckling at the kits' antics.

Spottedback stood up. "Claykit, Dappledkit! Please watch out for each other a bit!" When the kits stood back up, unharmed, Spottedback settled back down to her spot under the slight overhang of the entrance to the tree-den for the queens.

"Tell me, Yellowpelt," Sunnywing turned back to Yellowpelt. "How is my little Spikekit?"

"Please!" Spikefur came into the den. "Don't call me that! It's my kit name! I'm a warrior now!" Spikefur was trying to look serious, but Yellowpelt noticed a playful flicker in his eyes.

Sunnywing smiled warmly, stood up, and nuzzled the top of her son's head. "You'll always be Spikekit to me," she turned to Yellowpelt. "And you'll always be my little Yellowkit." She took a step back and sighed. "Trust me, you two were the cutest kits in the nursery. You were always competitive, fighting for milk when you nursed even though there were only two of you!" She looked at her offspring. "Then Stripedtail had to be nursed by me a couple of days after your births. How sad, her losing both her parents right after her birth…" Sunnywing snapped her head back up at Yellowpelt and Spikefur. "Now look at you two! You're warriors!" She gave both their ears a lick. "I'm so proud. You've both grown so much. But you can't stay any longer! I have to rest and you have to go be the best warriors you can be!" she nudged them towards the exit.

"Bye!" Yellowpelt sprinted away and into the forest.

"Tell your next litter that they're no match for me!" Spikefur called out playfully.

Sunnywing watched her kits run off. "Be all you can be, you two."

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"Midnightpaw, pay attention!" Darkbranch brought Midnightpaw out of her thoughts. "I'm trying to teach you something, here!" He batted her black-blue ear playfully. But then he straightened up and looked at her. "Come to think of it, I've been trying to teach you this all afternoon. Tell me please, what's troubling you?"

She looked at him with her mint green eyes. "Darkbranch, it's nothing really. I'll pay attention better. Now what was it you were saying about traveling from tree branch to tree branch?"

He didn't move his eyes. "Don't plug up your emotions, Midnightpaw,"

She knew he would keep prying until he got an answer. "Darkbranch, I…" she looked up into his eyes. "I feel like I don't belong! You're the only one who understands me!"

"Midnightpaw-"

"Don't try to tell me otherwise! I'm different and you know it!" she said, her voice rising.

"Midnightpaw, you are not a TreeClan cat. That doesn't mean you don't belong!" he laughed at the notion. "Your warrior training is going fine, and you're a good fighter and talented hunter. Your skills don't differ that much from any other apprentice's."

She didn't look satisfied. "But I don't even know where I really come from! I…" she paused. "…need to be alone." She ran off back towards camp.

Darkbranch didn't bother calling after her. He looked on in sorrow. He felt bad that Midnightpaw felt so out of place, and wished she was more comfortable. He sighed before heading back the same way she did, slowly.

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Crazyeyes bolted across TreeClan camp towards the leader's den. He burst through the entrance.

"Crazyeyes! What brings you here so late?" Thinstar raised her pale tan-blond head up in surprise.

"There's a new prophecy from StarClan."

She leaned forward. "What is it?" her pale blue eyes locked on Crazyeyes light gray ones.

"_A cat of your own will be leave at midnight, and a flash of silver will cross the field."_

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**Oh, a prophecy! I haven't had one of those yet! I bet you can't figure out what it means! And, no I will not give you any hints!**

**Well, Book 1 was great while it lasted! Don't worry, a sequel will soon be in the making! Yes, yes, oh yay.**

**Thanks to all my reviewers: Rosepelt, Halfpelt, Duskspirit, gatorfang, Jaypaw22, Gaze of Sea, Twitcherz, and anyone yet to review!**

**Byebye.**


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